Monthly Archives: January 2016

Educational Thought of the Day

Bolshoi Ballet: Taming of the Shrew

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th January 2016

Tweet The Bolshoi Ballet’s production of The Taming of the Shrew was telecast in HD at theaters around the world this afternoon. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s least politically correct play (at least for now) The Taming of the Shrew, the choreography was by Jean-Christophe Maillot. The dancing was set to about 25 pieces by Dmitri…

Yonghoon Lee in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Met

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd January 2016

Tweet Last night Yonghoon Lee sang his first performance as Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at the Met. The Korean has been increasingly impressive since his debut at the New York house is 2010. Before the performance an assistant manager made an announcement that Lee was suffering from a cold, but would sing nevertheless. It’s…

The Pearl Fishers in HD

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th January 2016

Tweet Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) was last performed at the Met in 1916 – and then only three times. Enrico Caruso was not enough the make the opera a success in New York and it disappeared until the current run. The opera apparently was brought back at the behest of soprano…

Tutto Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th January 2016

Tweet Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in its revised 1881 version was staged by Parma’s Teatro Reggio in March of 2010. Verdi’s gloomy masterpieces is a specialized taste, the Met did not get to it until 1932 and has only done it 139 times. It’s libretto is awkwardly constructed and sometimes almost impossible to follow. For example,…

British National Health Service Faces Financial Crisis

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th January 2016

Tweet NHS faces biggest financial crisis ‘in a generation’ is the headline of an article published in The Telegraph. The NHS has a deficit of about £1 billion in just the first three months of its fiscal year. You can read the linked article to see the usual excuses offered when a government health program exceeds…

Mortality and Ethnicity in the US

Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th January 2016

Tweet The overall mortality rate in the US is the highest in the developed world. But when you dig into the data the breakdown of the various American ethnic groups is very surprising. Last fall Anne Case and Angus Deaton published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shortly before Deaton was…

About Neil Kurtzman

Neil A Kurtzman MD is the Grover E Murray Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He has combined careers in clinical medicine, education, basic research, and administration for more than 30 years.